Dow Jones, Nasdaq, S&P 500 down, retailers are split on tariff impact

Tariffs continue to be in focus during today’s trading session, as Walmart and Home Depot shared differing views on their impact.

U.S. markets are still assessing the effect of tariffs on consumers. On Tuesday, May 20, the Dow Jones was trading at 42,679.23, down 112.84 points or 0.26%. The S&P 500 was at 5,942.07, down 0.36%, while the Nasdaq stood at 21,353, down 0.44%.

Just days after Walmart announced potential price hikes due to U.S. tariffs, Home Depot offered a different perspective. In its first-quarter 2025 earnings report, the home improvement giant stated that it plans to keep prices steady. Rather than raising prices, the company has opted to shift production away from China, which currently faces an effective tariff rate of 30%.

Still, Home Depot’s announcement may not be enough to lift sentiment. Wall Street analysts continue to warn about the broader economic impact of the recently resumed collection of student loans.

Student debt, consumer sentiment rattles Wall Street

The Department of Education under Donald Trump has resumed collections on student loans that had been paused for five years. This applies to borrowers in default, who may now face wage garnishment.

Notably, JPMorgan estimated that renewed collections could reduce disposable personal income somewhere between $3.1 billion and $8.5 billion. Bank of America’s analyst Mihir Bhatia noted that low-end consumers will particularly feel the weight of this new policy.

Against this backdrop, May’s preliminary consumer sentiment index has dropped to the second-lowest level on record. The index, which measures consumers’ willingness to spend, fell to 50.8 — the lowest reading aside from June 2022.

Still, despite bad news for Wall Street and Main Street, Bitcoin (BTC) is resilient, trading at $106,323 and up 0.98% in the last 24 hours. Gold showed even stronger performance, up 1.78% to $3,287 per ounce.